Labor to step up rollout of NBN in Queensland

MORE than 250,000 homes and businesses in Queensland will have high speed fibre rolled out to them by 2016 as Labor steps up the acceleration of the national broadband network.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is expected announce on Sunday that a further 1.3 million Australian households and businesses will become part of the $38 billion project, Fairfax reports.

Mr Conroy will promise fibre to an extra 302,800 premises in Victoria, 406,100 in NSW, 255,700 in Queensland, 181,500 in Western Australia, 117,700 in South Australia, and 45,000 in the ACT will be ''commenced or completed'' by mid-2016.

The government will promise that by mid-2016 construction of high-speed fibre to the premises will have been ''commenced or completed'' to 4.8 million homes and businesses.

"These are 1.3 million homes and businesses that under Tony Abbott will have the construction of the NBN cancelled, and be forced to pay $5000 or be left disconnected from Labor's NBN,'' Mr Conroy said.

The Opposition has ridiculed the statement, saying the use of ''commenced or completed'' as a measure, was a ''nonsense metric''.

News Ltd in Queensland reports the suburbs to benefit from the rollout include those on the Sunshine Coast, Gympie, Tin Can Bay, Childers as well as Brisbane suburbs.